John&Jacq~s Garden

Posted by Jacqueline on December 1st, 2009

How timely that our tropical garden in November 2009 was in top form to present me with enough photography opportunities to try out my relatively new point and shoot camera, Canon PowerShot SX200 IS! My dearly beloved, John, presented me an early Christmas-cum-40th wedding anniversary-cum-birthday gift during the last week of October. Hehe…too bad that [...]

Posted by Jacqueline on September 30th, 2009

Gardening is truly food for the soul and its rewards are endless, a tonic for stress and a sight for sore eyes! We’re absolutely delighted to be maintaining a garden blog here that gives us the opportunity to share online the many treasures seen in our tropical urban garden. They may look very ordinary to [...]

Posted by Jacqueline on August 4th, 2009

Proiphys amboinensis (Cardwell Lily, Northern Christmas Lily) Mysterious no more! Our hosta look-alike plant has finally been correctly identified as a Cardwell Lily, no less beautiful than the Hostas! Incidentally, just came across online that its common names in Chinese are Crystal Lily and False Hosta. Hmm…no wonder, our plant got us fooled!

Posted by Jacqueline on July 30th, 2009

Catharanthus roseus (Madagascar Periwinkle, Rose Periwinkle) An old-fashioned and reliable bedding plant that never fails to shine year round in our tropical climate, abounding in pretty little flowers that are usually of the purplish-pink, rose-pink or white form. But, of course, many marvelous cultivars/varieties of various vibrant colors and dwarfish forms have been developed over [...]

Posted by Jacqueline on July 28th, 2009

For years, we had thought that our luxuriant-looking plant was a Hosta. Its beautiful and large heart-shaped lime-green leaves are such a wonderful sight for sore-eyes and provide added greenery at our courtyard, delighting us so!

Posted by Jacqueline on July 17th, 2009

Hosta (Corfu Lily, Day Lily, Plantain Lily, Funkia) Hostas are popularly grown as ornamental plants for their attractive and beautiful foliage. But, we hadn’t known before researching for this article how extensively varied are their shapes, sizes, textures and colors! The right image, courtesy of Mark @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/markescapes/3554195218/ presents two fabulous variegated form, so beautifully [...]

Posted by Jacqueline on June 30th, 2009

Bauhinia kockiana has always been a baffling vine for us. It is most elusive. Grows fast and vigorous with beautiful bright green and luxuriant foliage yet rarely flowers! We seldom get to enjoy their blooms in large stunning clusters, that are so often seen in most home gardens around our neighborhood or elsewhere. Just have [...]

Posted by Jacqueline on June 18th, 2009

Epidendrum species (Epi, Epidendrum Orchid, Crucifix Orchid, Reed-stem Epidendrum, Star Orchid) How enormous and diverse the genus Epidendrum L. is! It consists of about 1,100 species of orchids that are native to tropical and subtropical Americas and the Caribbean. Now though, it is widely distributed, naturalized and cultivated in many regions worldwide. The more popular [...]

Posted by Jacqueline on June 1st, 2009

Wow! Our baby is grown-up! Just two years old, short of one month. There’s always excitement and pride when a young plant blooms for the first time ever upon maturity. This time, it is an orange Crucifix Orchid that was added to our garden in May 2007. Voted as our star orchid for May 2009, [...]

Posted by Jacqueline on May 18th, 2009

Plectranthus ‘Mona Lavender’ (Lavender Spur Flower, Mona Lavender) Another love-at-first-sight flowering plant that was added to our garden in late April 2006. Within a couple of months, it grew into a very attractive compact bush with lots of dainty-looking tubular lavender-purple flowers in lovely batik design. Very showy and incredibly fascinating! We got to enjoy [...]